Like I said, a generous suspicion. I can also suspect that had McCain been elected he would not have been dogged with insinuations about his citizenship, forced to proffer his birth certificate, referred to as a "Panamanian" by his detractors, etc. etc. for practically the duration of his first term.
Was that because of his race too?
I suspect we stopped hearing about McCain, and kept hearing about Obama, because Obama became president.